§48-27-601. Transmitting orders to domestic violence database;
affidavit as to award of possession of real
property; service of order on respondent.

(a) Upon entry of an order pursuant to section 27-403 or part
27-501, et seq., or an order entered pursuant to part 5-501, et
seq., granting relief provided for by this article, a copy of the
order shall be immediately transmitted electronically by the court
or the clerk of the court to the domestic violence database
established pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-one,
article one, chapter fifty-one of this code. No later than the
close of the next business day the court or the clerk of the court
shall transmit the order to a local office of the municipal police,
the county sheriff and the West Virginia State Police for service
upon the respondent named in the order. The law-enforcement agency
or agencies to which a copy of the order is supplied are not
required to maintain a copy of the order after the respondent is
served.

(b) A sworn affidavit may be executed by a party who has been
awarded exclusive possession of the residence or household,
pursuant to an order entered pursuant to section 27-503, and shall
be delivered to law-enforcement agencies simultaneously with any
order giving the party's consent for a law-enforcement officer to
enter the residence or household, without a warrant, to enforce the
protective order or temporary order.

(c) Orders shall be promptly served upon the respondent.
Failure to serve a protective order on the respondent does not stay
the effect of a valid order if the respondent has actual notice of
the existence and contents of the order.

(d) Any law-enforcement agency in this state in possession of
or with notice of the existence of an order issued pursuant to the
provisions of sections 27-403 or 27-501 of this article or the
provisions of section 5-509 of this chapter which is in effect or
has been expired for thirty days or less that receives a report
that a person protected by an order has been reported to be missing
shall immediately follow its procedures for investigating missing
persons. No agency or department policy delaying the beginning of
an investigation has any force or effect.

(e) The provisions of subsection (d) of this section shall be
applied where a report of a missing person is made which is
accompanied by a sworn affidavit that the person alleged to be
missing was, at the time of his or her alleged disappearance, being
subjected to treatment which meets the definition of domestic
battery or assault set forth in section twenty-eight, article two,
chapter sixty-one of this code.
Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2015 Regular Session
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